Johnson, James R.

Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Jim Johnson tries complex product liability and tort cases before juries and courts throughout the United States. He is particularly experienced in the presentation of complex scientific, medical, and technical evidence in the context of consolidated and individual claims as well as medical monitoring and class action litigation. Jim also has substantial experience in securities and antitrust proceedings before courts and agencies and has counseled clients on proactive steps to take to prevent product liability claims.

Jim has served as a lead trial lawyer in Jones Day's national coordination of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co's smoking and health litigation in venues ranging from New Hampshire to Florida, successfully obtaining defense jury verdicts, most recently in a consolidated trial in Memphis, Tennessee. He has successfully defended Brush Wellman, a producer of beryllium, in a series of cases filed in Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Georgia by customer employees claiming lung injuries from exposure to airborne beryllium.

Jim is a member of various state and local bar associations, including the Product Liability Section of the State Bar of Georgia and has authored the Georgia chapter of Aspen's Product Liability Reference: A Fifty-State Compendium as well as the Georgia chapter of Aspen's Business Torts: A Fifty-State Guide. He has made presentations on the trial of product liability cases from the defense perspective to CLE meetings and is a member of the board of advisors of Emory Winship Cancer Center.

Areas of Practice

• Product Liability & Tort Litigation
• Product Response Team

Representative Cases

• Brush Wellman wins summary judgment in lead case of Oak Ridge workers exposed to airborne beryllium , (2009)
• R.J. Reynolds obtains defense verdict after four-month product liability jury trial in Tennessee
• R.J. Reynolds obtains favorable decision in 1st Circuit affirming lower court ruling that smoking dangers were common knowledge
• R.J. Reynolds prevails in decertifying statewide class action of former and current Florida smokers
• R.J. Reynolds receives jury defense verdict in a nationally publicized tobacco liability case in Jacksonville, Florida

West Practice Categories

Alcoholic Beverages, Apparel, Asbestos, Chemicals & Cosmetics, Firearms, Food & Agricultural Products, Machinery & Tools, Medical Products & Devices, Motor Vehicle Defects, Pharmaceutical Products, Products Liability Law, Recreational Products, Tobacco

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Georgia

Education

• Case Western Reserve Univ
• Georgetown University

Published Works

• Georgia chapter of the Aspen publication Business Torts: A Fifty-State Guide, 2008

Address

1420 Peachtree Street, N.E.,
Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30309-3053

Phones

1.404.581.8707 (Business Phone)

Faxes

1.404.581.8330 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.jonesday.com